How to Avoid Whiplash!

Whiplash
is a common problem following motor vehicle collisions and because
prevention is considered the best medicine, here are some tips to AVOID
car crashes altogether…

Don’t eat, take your eyes off the road
while talking, fiddle with the radio, talk on your cell phone, or
text/play with apps while driving! The National Safety Council estimates
1.6 million crashes are caused by cell phone use, and you’re four times
more likely to have a crash while talking on a cell phone. In 2011, 23%
of auto collisions involved cell phone use, and of those, 21% involving
people between ages 16 and 19 were fatal. A good website to check out
WITH YOUR CHILDREN is www.textinganddrivingsafety.com.
Texting while driving results in a minimum of five seconds of eyes off
the road, which is equal to the length of a football field if you’re
traveling at 55 mph (~88 km per hour). While talking on the phone
increases your crash risk by 30%, texting increases your risk 2,300%!
About one in seven drivers between ages 16-20 involved in car wrecks
admit to texting or talking on their mobile devices at the time of the
crash, and 82% of Americans age 16-17 own cell phones. A third say they
text while driving, 52% say they talk on a cell phone while driving, and
77% of young adults are very or somewhat confident that they can safely
text while driving. About half of young drivers have seen their parents
drive and talk on a cell phone, and 15% have seen them texting while
driving. One in four adults have sent or received text messages while
driving and half of kids age 12-17 have been in a car while the driver
was texting. One in five drivers of ALL ages confess to surfing the web
or texting while driving AND they “justify it” with excuses like
“reading a text is safer than composing and sending one,” “the phone is
held near the windshield for better visibility,” “I increase the
following distance,” and “I text only at a stop sign or red light.”

So
WHAT CAN BE DONE to change this behavior? As of 2014, ten states in the
United States prohibit ALL drivers from using handheld cell phones
while driving and 32 states prohibit novice drivers from cell phone use.
Thirty-nine states prohibit ALL drivers from text messaging. Parents
can “DRIVECAM” their kids’ cars – a device that monitors a driver’s
activity and provides real-time feedback with video. Use the AT&T
“Drive Mode” app. It’s a FREE APP for Android & Blackberry that
prohibits texting while driving. Teens and parents can also take the
text-free-driving pledge at textinganddrivingsafety.com. Social media
sites for anti-texting & driving awareness include Facebook &
Twitter: @RayLaHood, @DistrationGov, @NHTSgov, @DriveSafely. Check out
blogs such as FromReidsDad.Org, RookieDriver.wordpress.com,
ctdrive.blogspot.com, and EndDD.org.

One Belgium-based project
tricked teen drivers into thinking that in order to pass their driving
test, they had to be able to successfully text and drive on a tight
course. The results on You Tube are both funny AND frightening. Student
reactions included: “If this becomes law, I’ll stop driving,” “It’s
impossible,” “What you’re asking is dangerous,” “People will die,” and
“Honestly, I feel like an idiot who can’t drive.”

Members of ChiroTrust® have taken “The ChiroTrust Pledge”: “To the best of my ability, I agree to provide my patients convenient, affordable, and mainstream Chiropractic care. I will not use unnecessary long-term treatment plans and/or therapies.”

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This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.